Leadership BS

Fixing Workplaces One Truth at a Time

35% of US employees would rather get their boss fired than receive a big raise.

More employees are actively sabotaging their employers than the few who are working hard.

Narcissism and dishonesty are common traits of our most highly respected leaders.

Why do leaders fail their people, their organizations, and even themselves, with unacceptable frequency? Despite almost seventy years of research, thousands of leadership books, and billions of dollars spent, leaders still fail and toxic work environments still prevail.

Dr. Pfeffer argues that conventional trends in leadership theory don't align with the facts and are ineffective for creating change. He addresses the social psychology that influences the traits and behaviors of actual leaders: what we talk about, how we measure (or fail to measure) workplace conditions, and even how we teach leadership.

We need to acknowledge that a leader's focus on salary, job tenure and personal power runs contrary to an organization's interests in productivity, employee engagement, revenue and profit growth. Dr. Pfeffer suggests we correlate these outcomes and measure our leaders by the health of their enterprises and the job satisfaction of their people.

Featuring:

Jeffrey Pfeffer is a Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is the author or co-author of 15 books including, Managing with Power: Politics and Influence in Organizations and Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't. Dr. Pfeffer received his BS and MS degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University, and his PhD from Stanford.

Related videos

VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger shares his perspective on effective leadership, based on his own personal experience and lessons he has learned over the course of his 35-year career in the technology industry.

Most companies today face a fundamental problem: the disconnect between what they aspire to do and what they can actually accomplish. CEO's are worried about their differentiation in a world that is increasingly hard to compete in. But are they creating strategies without fully understanding what the organization is capable…

Bad strategy is long on goals and vision and short on presenting a coherent set of actions for actually solving the fundamental problems facing an organization. Good strategy, on the other hand, flows from an honest diagnosis of your most critical challenge coupled with an action plan for specific objectives…

The foundation of George Zimmer's success is his company's corporate culture, centered on "servant leadership" values. These values seek to involve others in decision making and enhance the personal growth of workers. In this wideranging talk, Zimmer explains how his experience proves that a culture based on strong ethical values...The…

Successful innovations must be desirable to consumers, technically feasible, and viable from a business point of view. But how do you meet these requirements? Tim Brown advocates using the three stages of "design thinking": inspiration, ideation, and implementation. For inspiration, innovators must look at the world through the eyes and...Successful…

Most organisations are built for stability, not for change. But in today's competitive environment, you must be ready to change--and change frequently. Lawler and Worley explain how to increase your "surface area" with the outside world, drive leadership to lower levels in the company, and reward decision makers for change…